TV: Pooling, Cronking & Brinking

The "numbers game" system of covering
elections, in which networks vied with each other to see who could hire
the most poll watchers, reached an apogee of absurdity in the
California primary. In small precincts, three "reporters" often found
themselves struggling to see over the shoulder of one kind old lady
counting votes. It was too silly and needlessly expensive. Last week
the three networks and the wire services agreed to set up a joint
Network Election Service that will di vide the chores, pool the
results, and present the same vote count to a viewer no matter...